Rio 2016: GB qualify first rowing boat for Paralympics

Whiteley and Rowles have been rowing together for less than a year

Laurence Whiteley and Lauren Rowles have become the first British rowing team to qualify a boat for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The pair, who compete in the Para-rowing mixed double scull, secured the place by winning the repechage to make the World Championships final in Aiguebelette, France.

Rowles, 17, is a former wheelchair track racer who represented England at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

She took up rowing earlier this year.

Whiteley, 24, who trained without a partner for two years while he waited for a suitably classified female partner to be found, said: "I've spent two and three quarter years waiting for this moment. Our goal here was to qualify and it feels great."